Posted by Beth on Jun 28, 2023 in Blog, Bready or Not, chocolate, cookies | Comments Off on Bready or Not Original: Chewy Honey Strawberries and Cream Cookies
These Chewy Honey Strawberries and Cream Cookies are my own invention inspired by these soft-dried strawberries I found at Costco. (They are also on Amazon for a much higher price. Affiliate link.)
If you love strawberries AND cookies, welcome to the recipe of your dreams. My base chewy honey cookie recipe has ingredients swapped out to make this work.
Chopped up (I used kitchen shears) soft-dried strawberries are distributed throughout the dough. White chocolate chips are the fantastic accompaniment that is easy to find, but I also tried this recipe again using some limited edition Hershey’s Cream Cheese Chips, which delivered an even richer flavor.
Who knows where or how long these chips will be available, but if you can find them, use them in this recipe or any other good chocolate chip cookie recipe.
Like my other variations of this base recipe, these cookies will keep for weeks in a sealed container.
Bready or Not Original: Chewy Honey Strawberries and Cream Cookies
A perfect recipe for strawberry lovers! Soft-dried strawberries pair with white chocolate chips within a honey-enriched dough. These cookies are soft, chewy, and luscious.
Course: Dessert, Snack
Keyword: chocolate, cookies, strawberries
Author: Beth Cato
Equipment
plastic wrap
tablespoon or teaspoon scoop
baking sheet
Ingredients
3/4cupunsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks) softened
1/2cuplight brown sugar packed
1/2cupwhite sugar
2Tbhoney
1large egg room temperature
1Tablespoonvanilla extract
1cupbread flour
1cupall-purpose flour
2teaspoonscornstarch
1teaspoonbaking soda
1/2teaspoonsalt
1cupwhite chocolate chips or Hershey's Cream Cheese Chips
3/4cupsoft-dried strawberries chopped
Instructions
In a large bowl, beat the butter until smooth. Add the sugar and honey and beat until creamy and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and then mix in the egg and vanilla extract.
In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients: bread flour, all-purpose flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt. Sift together.
Slowly stir together the wet ingredients and flour mix until just combined. Fold in the white chocolate chips and strawberries pieces. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and stash in the fridge for several hours or days; dough can also be frozen at this stage.
When ready to bake, preheat the oven at 350-degrees. Use greased stoneware, parchment paper, or silpat mats. The cookie dough, even straight from the fridge, has a soft Play-Doh-like consistency, and will spread when it bakes; keep this in mind when spacing cookie dough.
Teaspoon-sized cookies need to bake 9 to 12 minutes; Tablespoon-sized take 11 to 13 minutes. Let set on cookie sheet for 10 to 15 minutes before moving to a rack to cool completely.
Stored cookies will keep in a sealed container, between waxed paper or parchment layers, for weeks. They are excellent for travel or shipping.
These Almond Blondies are proof that simple can be oh-so-good.
There’s no chocolate here. No fancy presentation. This is all about a basic, pan-mixed batter with almonds on top.
These things are a sensory delight. You have thick, chewy bars infused with deep sweetness thanks to a heady application of brown sugar. The chopped almonds add a hearty crunch in contrast.
Some almonds and crumbs will fall off as the bars are sliced, but these remnants are delicious. Let nothing go to waste!
Go nutty for these simple, delicious blondies with a sweet chewy base and crunchy almonds on top.
Course: Dessert, Snack
Keyword: almond, bars
Author: Beth Cato
Equipment
13×9 pan
nonstick spray
large saucepan
Ingredients
2cupsbrown sugar packed
2/3cupunsalted butter
2large eggs room temperature
2teaspoonsvanilla extract
1teaspoonalmond extract
2cupsall-purpose flour
1teaspoonbaking powder
1teaspoonbaking soda
3/4cupsalmondschopped
Instructions
Preheat oven at 350-degrees. Line a 13×9 pan with foil and apply nonstick spray. Set aside.
In a large sauce pan on medium heat, place the brown sugar and butter, stirring constantly until the ingredients combine to be smooth. Set on another burner to cool for about 15 minutes.
Whisk in the eggs one at a time, followed by the two extracts. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and baking soda until no white streaks remain.
Spread batter in the prepared pan. Sprinkle the almonds all over the top. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. The middle should pass the toothpick test. Let cool for a bit, but cut into the blondies while they are still warm. Store in a sealed container at room temperature.
The blog is called Bready or Not, and today we are definitely bready with this gorgeous, old-fashioned Country Loaf.
This is a basic boule in the French style. Water, salt, sugar, flour, yeast. Baking is done with added steam–boiling water in a pan below the bread, sending up a cloud to give this loaf the perfect crust.
This bread is absolute perfection toasted with butter, but it’s also great for sandwiches or to go along with soup. Some breads are best hot, but this one is more versatile.
I modified this recipe from a fantastic cookbook called Making Artisan Breads in the Bread Machine by Michelle Anderson. Click here to get it through my affiliate link.
This is your old-fashioned, basic, and absolutely divine bread round with a crunchy crust and a soft, tender exterior. Note that this dough goes through a sequence of rises, and so requires a chunk of the day. The baking stage gets a boost from steam; a pan with boiling water is placed below the bread to send up steam, resulting in a crisp crust. Modified from Making Artisan Breads in the Bread Machine by Michelle Anderson.
Course: Appetizer, Bread
Keyword: yeast bread
Author: Beth Cato
Equipment
bread machine
large bowl
parchment paper
baking sheet or pizza stone
cake pan
kettle for boiling water
Ingredients
1 3/4cupslukewarm water 100-110-degrees
2teaspoonssea salt
1teaspoonwhite sugar
4 1/4cupsbread flour
1 1/4teaspoonsactive dry yeast or bread machine yeast
Instructions
Add ingredients to bread machine bucket, which usually means liquids first–so water, sea salt, sugar, bread flour, and yeast. Let the dough cycle run.
Transfer the dough to a large greased bowl, tucking dough under the sides to form a tight ball. Cover with a towel or plastic wrap to let rise for an 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
Lay out a large piece of parchment paper. Flour lightly. Roll dough onto it, deflating the round and tucking the dough to form a new, smooth round. Flour lightly on top. Cover with towel or plastic wrap again to let rise, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
Preheat oven at 500-degrees. Place baking pan or stone on middle rack. On rack below that, place a cake pan with 1 or 2-inch sides. In an electric or stovetop kettle, boil about 2 cups of water.
Use a sharp knife to score a hash mark across the top of the risen dough. Place the hot baking sheet or stone on the stovetop. Very carefully, use the parchment paper as a sling to move the bread onto the hot pan. Place it in the oven. Immediately use the kettle to carefully pour water into the cake pan on the lower rack; no need to measure the water, but get the pan about half full. Close the oven and do not open it again until the end of baking.
Bake for 5 minutes. Lower the temperature to 400-degrees. Bake an additional 30 minutes. The bread should be risen and golden. Cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing in.
This bread is fantastic at room temperature or heated up again. Use it with butter, for sandwiches, whatever you want! While the bread is still fresh, freeze leftovers for later enjoyment, too.
These Fruity-Cheesy Swirled Blondies are easy to customize based on your budget and ingredient availability. Go expensive and fancy and use a goat cheese log, or more budget-conscious and still-delicious with standard cream cheese.
I’ve done it both ways. Both are fantastic. For the goat cheese, I recommending hitting someplace like Costco or Sam’s Club. For cream cheese, my go-to has become Aldi.
Use any variety of jams or preserves, but the one necessity is that it is THICK. A watery one will sink to the bottom (says the voice of experience). I found the good basic Smucker’s Strawberry Jam was fine in this recipe.
Bready or Not Original: Fruity-Cheesy Swirled Blondies
This recipe is vaguely named Fruity-Cheesy Swirled Blondies because you can customize the ingredients: use either soft goat cheese or standard cream cheese along with a thick fruit jam or preserves of your choice.
Course: Breakfast, Dessert, Snack
Keyword: bars, cheese, preserves
Author: Beth Cato
Equipment
9×9 pan
aluminum foil
nonstick spray
uneven spatula
Ingredients
Blondies
12Tablespoonsunsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks) room temperature
1/2cupwhite sugar
3/4cuplight brown sugar packed
2large eggs room temperature
1/2teaspoonvanilla extract
1 3/4cupsall-purpose flour
1 1/4teaspoonsbaking powder
1/2teaspoonsalt
Cheesecake Swirl
8ouncessoft goat cheese or cream cheese, softened
2Tablespoonswhite sugar
1Tablespoonplain or vanilla Greek yogurt or sour cream
1large egg room temperature
1/2teaspoonvanilla extract
3/4cupjam or preserves
Instructions
Preheat oven at 325-degrees. Line a 9-inch square pan with foil and apply nonstick spray.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars until fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt until just combined.
In a separate bowl, beat together the cheese, sugar, yogurt, egg, and vanilla to make smooth.
Pour about half the blondie batter into the prepared pan. Smooth it out with an uneven spatula.
Dollop on all of the cheese mixture. Then add spoonfuls of the jam to fill any gaps. Follow up by adding dollops of the remaining blondie batter. Use a butter knife to swirl the layers together for a marbled effect.
Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, until the middle is not jiggly and passes the toothpick test. Cool for at least an hour at room temperature, then chill in fridge. Once the pan is cool, use the foil to lift the blondies onto a cutting board to slice into bars.
Enjoy promptly or store in a sealed container in the fridge to eat over the coming days.